Thursday, January 30, 2014

Noone wants to be challenged at night

Don't know about you but I do my best work when I have rested from a day full of "problem solving ". Not late at night, When is the ABC doing really good work . Would McClullan be happy with ABCTV in particular in their careful use of images and adjectives---- I mean talk about endangering their credibility ?

( AS an example heard the ABC weather man talking about "rain needed for lawns " last night in hottest part of the year- talk about confusion and risking a wasted response  . Perennial plants in your garden need water at the momenet  , but not Lawns. If we continue to use water wisely we will continue to live well in this very dry continent , but  if we listen to the easily wetted and easily worried ABC we will waste our savings .( leave the commercials to exploit fear please)    Wisdom means you chose when and where to water just as it Parliament's job to support SPC Ardmona or not - not some simplistic ideological trigger repeated by the uneducated at infinitum on the ABC . )
Is watching Q&A just a crossword where we fit the names into the right places? The relaxation that comes with having your prejudices reinforced - the boxes ticked?  I don't mind Q&A being a dinner time dalliance as long as we recognize its huge potential for hypocrisy,- we are not answering real dilemmas.
Tony 's " moving on" line says it all -- he is not serious,  My question for ABCTV,  who are increasingly confused about the difference between reporting and commentating on the news  is -who and when are we serious about the energy and commitment required to resolve issues we dare to comment on - Maybe we should best do what PBS do and report the facts  and switch clearly always to commentary!
Entertainment and even flagging issues is fine  but ABC,  in the info age is increasingly going around in circles in commentary .I can't even listen to RN on rural issues its so crass .  Internet intelligence thankfully is growing bu ABC is just growing in quantity not quality .
We maybe stimulated by ABCTV  , but are we satisfied ? They get their best programs from the BBC and lots of our funded stuff isn't worth watching ABC3 Beyond last night >
 Did you walk out of the TV room informed?learn something new - did Tony or Jon feind move you on just when it started to get interesting ?
My point is don't get hooked and if you do SwitchOff deliberately ( you'll notice you have used your evening better!)
People in charge of information should be watched carefully,
I used to love the ABC until i realised they were using me , getting me hooked and constantly reeling me in but with no walk out agreement to learn . Like some circus act,  they get you in but if you think about it when you, leave you maybe none the wiser. 
We seem to need a education revolution but we don;t seem to know where to find one .
Its dark out there and  the bright lights beckon.
Off to see the Hobbit - he at least dares to explore the darkness properly and on his own .  

Thursday, January 2, 2014

You prove nothing with stats

Some creationists make the mistake of trying to prove things , but so do some religiuos determinists . Science does help grow a level of certainty , but it doesn't always do what we want it to - provide a direction .There is then,  maybe,  a place for both, but only if they inform each other and produce sound results .
How do you tell a faith that's reasonable? - if it seems to works reasonably well? .Life is testable even if too much talk and statistical is totally distracting ; Perhaps even driving us to drink .A faith that informs your decsionmaking builds confidence and avoids obliteration of thinking.( The causes of getting drunk)

Fanatics forget that we can't see the stars when its cloudy and we are surrounded by clouds and noise  . Whatever created this wonderfilled universe made light go on forever and our noise not . Somehow the noise is limited to our space( until the media took on the task of entertaining/controlling? us )